STUPID OSCAR SNUBS: THE BEST OF 2023 NOT IN WITH A SHOT

When the arguments about who have been ‘snubbed’ arise each year in the wake of the Oscar nominations announcement, there is always a counter-argument about who should have missed out to make way. There isn’t a name amongst the nominees that we’d begrudge their spot. But there is certainly a sense of “What might have been…” when you consider our most startling non-nominees…

GRETA GERWIG (Best Director) and MARGOT ROBBIE (Best Actress): They weren’t technically shut out of the ceremony - Greta, with hubby Noah Baumbach, are up for Adapted Screenplay; Robbie as a producer for Best Picture - but the now decade-long trend that favoured viewer-inducing box-office hits in key categories screeched to a halt when the Barbie pair missed out. Just as last year, when Tom Cruise’s cinema-saving return as Maverick was ignored, Robbie and her director deserved Oscar’s respect - for both shepherding the film’s bold narrative to fruition and its billion dollar box office.

BEST DOCUMENTARY - BEYOND UTOPIA (pictured, right) and STILL: A MICHAEL J. FOX MOVIE: The first-person factual filmmaking masterclass in 2023 was Madeleine Gavin’s account of the horrors of life in North Korea and one family’s odyssey to freedom. And the soul laid bare that Davis Guggenheim’s camera captures in his profoundly moving chat with Hollywood’s favourite son is unforgettable viewing. How these two missed a Best Doco slot…well, I just don’t get it…  

BEST ACTOR - JOAQUIN PHOENIX (Beau is Afraid) and NICHOLAS CAGE (Dream Scenario): Seems there is only room for one obnoxious, neurotic white guy in the Best Actor mix, and that spot was filled by Paul Giamatti in The Holdovers. Phoenix’s masterclass in anxiety and Cage’s everyman dream guy were, let’s be frank, far more nuanced and inventive performances than Giamatti’s one-note, smart-alec, cliched academic, but…well, here we are.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS - RACHEL McADAMS (Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret) and PENELOPE CRUZ (Ferrari): Admittedly, this was a super-competitive category, as usual. But both McAdams, as the perfect movie-mom incarnation ever in the adored adaptation of Judy Blume’s YA-lit classic, and Cruz, as the emotionally-tortured wife of the automobile industry giant, support their films with invaluable, indelible characterisations.  

BEST ACTRESS - GRETA LEE (Past Lives; pictured, right): Another example of a film that didn’t go unnoticed - Past Lives earned two nominations, including Best Film - but one that couldn’t hold award season momentum in the category it deserved most, Best Actress, for the luminous Greta Lee. We can legitimately point an accusing finger at the FYC marketing budget at Netflix; Annette Bening’s kind-of surprising inclusion here for the streamer’s biopic Nyad stole away Lee’s shot at a trophy.   

BEST INTERNATIONAL FILM - FALLEN LEAVES (Finland) and THE MOTHER OF ALL LIES (Morocco): These are two films that bear the unmistakably unique hallmarks of two truly singular auteur’s - Finnish cinema’s national treasure, Aki Kaurismäki and one of 2023’s breakout talents, Asmae ElMoudir, from Morocco. Their films were perhaps ultimately too idiosyncratic, given the Best International Film spots were taken by the far more palatable Society of the Snow (no pun intended) and Perfect Days (which we love, so no shade intended).

BEST SONG - “PEACHES” by JACK BLACK (The Super Mario Bros. Movie): Can you imagine the giggly, crowd-pleasing thrill of following up Ryan Gosling’s live rendition of ‘I’m Just Ken’ with Jack Black going all-in on stage as his SMB villain Bowser singing his unhinged love serenade ‘Peaches’? Well, it ain’t gonna happen. Black’s brilliantly comedic ballad, an inspired intermission in the otherwise frantic animated hit, should’ve been nominated.      

EVERYTHING SALTBURN: There was a tangible momentum over the last month that suggested Emerald Fennell’s hot-button pic was on Oscar’s radar. Barry Keoghan for Best Actor; Rosamund Pike for Supporting Actress; Original Script, Set and Costume Design, Cinematography, Editing all seemed within reach. But the divisive film instead fell in with a prestige crowd that includes The Iron Claw, Priscilla, All of Us Strangers, Eileen, A Thousand and One, Origin, Memory, Asteroid City - great films from 2023 that didn’t get their shot.

SEE THE FULL LIST OF NOMINATIONS HERE

2023 OSCAR PREDICTIONS, PART 2: DIRECTOR, ACTRESSES, ADAPTED SCREENPLAY, ANIMATED FILM PLUS LOTS MORE

In Part 2 of our Oscar Predictions piece, we make some big calls (yes, Ana de Armas should win for Blonde!) and hope you're along for the ride.

Read 2023 OSCAR PREDICTIONS, PART 1: FILM, ACTORS, ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY, SONG PLUS LOTS MORE here.

BEST DIRECTOR
Splitting the Director and Film honours used to be an anomaly, but that’s on the turn. I think it’ll happen again this year; The Daniels will get their individual trophies in the Original Screenplay category, but get pipped here by Steven Spielberg for The Fabelmans. Todd Field can consider himself unlucky that Tar is up against a buzz title in Everything…. And a sentimental fave in Fabelmans, because Tar is masterfully helmed.     
NOMINEES: Ruben Östlund, Triangle of Sadness; Todd Field, Tár; Daniel Kwan & Daniel Scheinert, Everything Everywhere All at Once; Martin McDonagh, The Banshees of Inisherin; Steven Spielberg, The Fabelmans.
WHO SHOULD WIN: Todd Field for Tár.
WHO WILL WIN: Steven Spielberg for The Fabelmans

BEST ACTRESS
The triumphant SAG ceremony for all things Everything Everywhere All at Once was the clearest indication yet that Michelle Yeoh will trump our Cate here. Blanchett is playing the game harder than usual to secure Oscar votes (did you see the, ‘Cate Explains Aussie Slang’ article? Oh, boy…), but the tide has well and truly turned Yeoh’s way at just the right time.
NOMINEES: Cate Blanchett, Tár; Ana de Armas, Blonde; Andrea Riseborough, To Leslie; Michelle Williams, The Fabelmans; Michelle Yeoh, Everything Everywhere All at Once
WHO SHOULD WIN: Ana de Armas for Blonde.
WHO WILL WIN: Michelle Yeoh for Everything Everywhere All at Once.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Traditionally a very tough category to pick; remember when Marisa Tomei beat Lauren Bacall? For much of the awards season, Angela Bassett stood tall, but then Jamie Lee Curtis surged and, as we write this, Kerry Condon is emerging as the bolter. This is a real dart-in-the-dark guess, but here goes… 
NOMINEES: Angela Bassett, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever; Hong Chau, The Whale; Kerry Condon, The Banshees of Inisherin; Jamie Lee Curtis, Everything Everywhere All at Once; Stephanie Hsu, Everything Everywhere All at Once
WHO SHOULD WIN: Kerry Condon for The Banshees of Inisherin
WHO WILL WIN: Jamie Lee Curtis for Everything Everywhere All at Once

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
If the mood is ‘Let’s Spread the Love’, here’s where the hugely respected auteur Sarah Polley picks up her first gong, for the incendiary Best Picture nominee Women Talking. If it goes the way of the most nominations, …Western Front will step up. Or is this where finely-tuned nostalgia of Top Gun: Maverick gets its due?
NOMINEES: Edward Berger, Ian Stokell & Lesley Paterson, All Quiet on the Western Front; Rian Johnson, Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery; Kazuo Ishiguro, Living; Ehren Kruger, Eric Warren Singer, Christopher McQuarrie, Peter Craig & Justin Marks, Top Gun: Maverick; Sarah Polley, Women Talking
WHO SHOULD WIN: Sarah Polley for Women Talking
WHO WILL WIN: Sarah Polley for Women Talking

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE 
NOMINEES: Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio; Marcel the Shell With Shoes On; Puss in Boots: The Last Wish; The Sea Beast; Turning Red
WHO SHOULD WIN: Puss in Boots: the Last Wish
WHO WILL WIN: Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
NOMINEES: Volker Bertelmann, All Quiet on the Western Front; Carter Burwell, The Banshees of Inisherin; Justin Hurwitz, Babylon; Son Lux, Everything Everywhere All at Once; John Williams, The Fabelmans
WHO SHOULD WIN: Justin Hurwitz for Babylon
WHO WILL WIN: John Williams for The Fabelmans

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
NOMINEES: James Friend, All Quiet on the Western Front; Roger Deakins, Empire of Light; Darius Khondji, Bardo; Mandy Walker, Elvis; Florian Hoffmeister, Tár
WHO SHOULD WIN: Roger Deakins for Empire of Light
WHO WILL WIN: Mandy Walker for Elvis

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN
NOMINEES: Christian M. Goldbeck & Ernestine Hipper, All Quiet on the Western Front; Catherine Martin, Karen Murphy & Bev Dunn, Elvis ; Florencia Martin & Anthony Carlino, Babylon ; Dylan Cole, Ben Procter & Vanessa Cole, Avatar: The Way of Water; Rick Carter & Karen O’Hara, The Fabelmans
WHO SHOULD WIN: Florencia Martin & Anthony Carlino for Babylon
WHO WILL WIN: Catherine Martin, Karen Murphy & Bev Dunn for Elvis

BEST MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING
NOMINEES: All Quiet on the Western Front; The Batman; Black Panther: Wakanda Forever; Elvis; The Whale
WHO SHOULD WIN: The Whale
WHO WILL WIN: Elvis

BEST SOUND
NOMINEES: All Quiet on the Western Front; Avatar: The Way of Water; The Batman; Elvis; Top Gun: Maverick
WHO SHOULD WIN: Top Gun: Maverick
WHO WILL WIN: All Quiet on the Western Front

BEST ANIMATED SHORT
NOMINEES: The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse; The Flying Sailor; Ice Merchants; My Year of Dicks; An Ostrich Told Me the World Is Fake and I Think I Believe It
WHO WILL WIN: An Ostrich Told Me the World Is Fake and I Think I Believe It

2023 OSCAR PREDICTIONS, PART 1: PICTURE, ACTORS, ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY, SONG PLUS MORE

We've got a lot to say about this year's Academy Award contenders. So much, in fact, we've split our annual predictions piece into two. Pick some fights with us on this page, then follow the link to Round 2... 

Check out 2023 OSCAR PREDICTIONS, PART 2: DIRECTOR, ACTRESSES, ADAPTED SCREENPLAY, ANIMATED FILM PLUS LOTS MORE here.

BEST PICTURE: 
The Guild community, which makes up a big chunk of the AMPAS voters, seem pretty united on this front, with Everything Everywhere All at Once taking the award season spoils in recent weeks across a lot of categories. Tough to bet against it at this stage. The other multi-nominated challenger, All Quiet on the Western Front, will get its dues in the International Feature category. 
NOMINEES:All Quiet on the Western Front; Avatar: The Way of Water; The Banshees of Inisherin; Elvis; Everything Everywhere All at Once; The Fabelmans; Tár; Top Gun: Maverick; Triangle of Sadness; Women Talking
WHO SHOULD WIN: Triangle of Sadness
WHO WILL WIN: Everything Everywhere All at Once.

BEST ACTOR: 
Was Fraser’s to lose for much of the campaigning period, but out-of-the-blue wins for Farrell and Butler have tightened the odds. And a lot of people (ie, those who are backing him as the lead in Ridley Scott’s Gladiator sequel) would like to see Paul Mescal’s performance in Aftersun be recognised, too. Still Fraser by my thinking, but expect this to be a close call.
NOMINEES: Austin Butler, Elvis; Colin Farrell, The Banshees of Inisherin; Brendan Fraser, The Whale; Paul Mescal, Aftersun; Bill Nighy, Living
WHO SHOULD WIN: Brendan Fraser for The Whale
WHO WILL WIN: Brendan Fraser for The Whale

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR:
There are so many great narratives - Judd Hirsch’s Fabelmans nod, making the 87 years-young actor the oldest nominee ever in this category; Barry Keoghan’s rags-to-riches boyhood, leading to recognition for The Banshees of Inisherin; funnyman-turned-dramatic powerhouse Brian Tyree Henry for Causeway. Of course, none match the resurgent career of forgotten child star Ke Huy Quan, whose got a lock on the trophy in our opinion.
NOMINEES: Brendan Gleeson, The Banshees of Inisherin; Brian Tyree Henry, Causeway; Judd Hirsch, The Fabelmans; Barry Keoghan, The Banshees of Inisherin; Ke Huy Quan, Everything Everywhere All at Once
WHO SHOULD WIN: Ke Huy Quan for Everything Everywhere All at Once
WHO WILL WIN: Ke Huy Quan for Everything Everywhere All at Once

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY 
The Daniels’ moment. Which is a big call amongst a line-up like this, but…well, here we are.
NOMINEES: Todd Field, Tár; Tony Kushner & Steven Spielberg, The Fabelmans; Daniel Kwan & Daniel Scheinert, Everything Everywhere All at Once; Martin McDonagh, The Banshees of Inisherin; Ruben Östlund, Triangle of Sadness
WHO SHOULD WIN: Ruben Östlund for Triangle of Sadness
WHO WILL WIN: Daniel Kwan & Daniel Scheinert for Everything Everywhere All at Once

BEST INTERNATIONAL FEATURE
NOMINEES: All Quiet on the Western Front (Germany); Argentina, 1985 (Argentina); Close (Belgium); EO (Poland); The Quiet Girl (Ireland)
WHO SHOULD WIN: Close
WHO WILL WIN: All Quiet on the Western Front

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE 
NOMINEES: All the Beauty and the Bloodshed; All That Breathes; Fire of Love; A House Made of Splinters; Navalny
WHO SHOULD WIN: Fire of Love
WHO WILL WIN: Navalny

BEST ORIGINAL SONG
NOMINEES: Ryan Coogler, Ludwig Göransson, Rihanna & Tems, “Lift Me Up,” Black Panther: Wakanda Forever; Lady Gaga & BloodPop, “Hold My Hand,” Top Gun: Maverick; M.M. Keeravaani & Chandrabose, “Naatu Naatu,” RRR; Diane Warren, “Applause,” Tell It Like a Woman; Ryan Lott, David Byrne & Mitski, “This Is a Life,” Everything Everywhere All at Once
WHO SHOULD WIN: M.M. Keeravaani & Chandrabose, “Naatu Naatu,” from RRR
WHO WILL WIN: M.M. Keeravaani & Chandrabose, “Naatu Naatu,” from RRR

BEST EDITING 
NOMINEES: Eddie Hamilton, Top Gun: Maverick; Mikkel E.G. Nielsen, The Banshees of Inisherin; Paul Rogers, Everything Everywhere All at Once; Jonathan Redmond & Matt Villa, Elvis; Monika Willi, Tár
WHO SHOULD WIN: Eddie Hamilton for Top Gun: Maverick
WHO WILL WIN: Eddie Hamilton for Top Gun: Maverick

BEST COSTUME DESIGN 
NOMINEES: Jenny Beavan, Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris; Ruth Carter, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever; Catherine Martin, Elvis; Mary Zophres, Babylon; Shirley Kurata, Everything Everywhere All at Once
WHO SHOULD WIN: Jenny Beavan for Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris
WHO WILL WIN: Catherine Martin for Elvis

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS

NOMINEES: All Quiet on the Western Front; Avatar: The Way of Water; The Batman; Black Panther: Wakanda Forever; Top Gun: Maverick
WHO SHOULD WIN: Avatar: The Way of Water
WHO WILL WIN: Avatar: The Way of Water

BEST LIVE-ACTION SHORT
An Irish Goodbye; Ivalu; Le Pupille; Night Ride; The Red Suitcase
WHO WILL WIN: Ivalu

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT
The Elephant Whisperers; Haulout; How Do You Measure a Year?; The Martha Mitchell Effect; Stranger at the Gate.
WHO WILL WIN: How Do You Measure a Year?

IFFR 50 GOES GLOBAL WITH 2021 AWARDS ROSTER

The 2021 International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) has spread the awards love far and wide for its expanded 50th anniversary edition, with trophies going to auteurs from India, Kosovo, Bosnia, Argentina, Thailand, Norway, The Ivory Coast and America, to name just a few.

Debutant director Vinothraj P.S’s southern India-set Pebbles (pictured, above) won the top honour, the 2021 Tiger Award. In a series of prepared statements, the Jury collective provided valuable insight into their decisions. Tiger jurists Lemohang Jeremiah Mosese, Orwa Nyrabia, Hala Elkoussy, Helena van der Meulen and Ilse Hughan said of Vinothraj’s work; “Creating a maximum impact with a minimum in means, the filmmaker reaches his goal with the same conviction and determination as his main characters,” adding the film is, “A lesson in pure cinema, captivating us with its beauty and humour, in spite of its grim subject.”

I Comete – A Corsican Summer (pictured, right) by French filmmaker Pascal Tagnati and Looking for Venera by Norika Sefa from Kosovo both won Special Jury Awards. The BankGiro Loterij Audience Award went to Quo Vadis, Aida? by Bosnian filmmaker Jasmila Žbanić. The FIPRESCI Prize was given to The Edge of Daybreak by Thai filmmaker Taiki Sakpisit. Norwegian director Ane Hjort Guttu won the KNF prize for her short film Manifesto. La nuit des rois by Philippe Lacôte from Côte d’Ivoire won the Youth Jury Award. 

The VPRO Big Screen Award went to Argentinian Ana Katz’s El perro que no calla (The Dog Who Wouldn’t Be Quiet). VPRO Big Screen jury members Mauro Corstiaans, Oriana Baloriano, Frits Bienfait, Magda van Vloten and Mirjam van den Brink called the monochromatic film, “A hopeful and optimistic story, without toning down the challenges for especially younger people,” observing that Katz favoured, “radical choices regarding narrative, structure and cinematography.”

The prestigious Robby Müller Award, which honours an ‘image maker’ (director of photography, filmmaker or visual artist) who, in the spirit of the late Dutch cinematographer Robby Müller, has created an authentic, credible and emotionally striking visual language throughout their oeuvre, was bestowed upon American filmmaker Kelly Reichhardt (pictured, below), whose latest feature First Cow screened at IFFR 2021.

“We see in Kelly Reichardt, not just a liberating independence and clarity of aesthetic vision, but also someone who, in a self-evident way, carries on Robby Müller’s legacy,” stated the Müller Award jury. “They share a talent for depicting the American landscape in all its variety as much more than a supporting character, and for portraying humans in the most subtle and sensitive way. Both are able to visualise what can’t be expressed in words by creating pristine, unforced images in which the narrative can unfold and evolve, and the viewer's gaze can wander.”

The full list of IFFR 2021 winners are:

TIGER COMPETITION
Tiger Award: “Pebbles,” by Vinothraj P.S.
Special Jury Award: “I Comete – A Corsican Summer,” by Pascal Tagnati
Special Jury Award: “Looking for Venera,” by Norika Sefa

BIG SCREEN COMPETITION
VPRO Big Screen Award: “The Dog Who Wouldn’t Be Quiet,” by Ana Katz

AMMODO TIGER SHORT COMPETITION
Ammodo Tiger Short Award: “Sunsets, Everyday” by Basir Mahmood
Ammodo Tiger Short Award: “Terranova” by Alejandro Pérez Serrano and Alejandro Alonso Estrella
Ammodo Tiger Short Award: “Maat Means Land,” by Fox Maxy

OTHER AWARDS
Robby Müller Award: Kelly Reichardt
BankGiro Loterij Audience Award: “Quo vadis, Aida? by Jasmila Žbanić
FIPRESCI Award: “The Edge of Daybreak,” by Taiki Sakpisit
KNF Award: “Manifesto,” by Ane Hjort Guttu
Youth Jury Award: “La nuit des rois,” by Philippe Lacôte

GEN-X INFLUENCE CLEAR IN OSCAR NIGHT TALENT ROSTER

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences suggested a changing of the guard as the 92^nd annual Academy Awards unfolded tonight in Los Angeles. From the bestowing upon a foreign-language film its ultimate accolade for the first time to letting an ageing rapper finally belt out his Oscar-winning tune from 17 years ago, the ceremony provided further evidence of a strengthening of Generation X powerbrokers within the AMPAS membership.

The headline story of the evening was the trophy haul won by writer/director Bong Joon-ho’s darkly funny, contemporary South Korean thriller Parasite, which managed to hide away four awards by evening’s end – Best Film, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay and Best International Feature.

The year’s most acclaimed film, Parasite now holds the honour of being the first foreign-language production in Academy Award history to win Best Film. Twelve foreign-language classics have been nominated for the top honour previously, including such masterpieces as Le Grande Illusion (1938), Z (1969), Cries and Whispers (1973) and Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon (2000).

Elsewhere, hot young stars from the 1990s were the key recipients of the four major acting gongs, signifying their transition into more stately industry standing. Lead actor and actress awards went to Joaquin Phoenix (Joker) and Renee Zellwegger (Judy) respectively (Phoenix emotionally quoted a passage written by his late brother, '90s icon River); supporting honours went to Laura Dern (Marriage Story) and Brad Pitt (Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood). The ageing ‘movie brat’ might of Martin Scorsese and his ensemble couldn’t secure The Irishman a trophy, while millennial poster-children Adam Driver and Scarlett Johansson had to sit and watch with Marriage Story director Noah Baumbach as, Dern aside, others aced that film’s chances.

Perhaps the ultimate nod to the 40-55 year age bracket that held sway over the 2020 ceremony was the appearance of rap star Eminem. Unable to perform his hit song ‘Lose Yourself’ from Curtis Hanson’s 8 Mile when it won the Best Song gong in 2003, the singer, belted out the tune with power and energy before an enraptured audience who nodded heads in tempo and approval. Adding to the air of Gen-X authority was a movie-song montage that played like a love letter to '80s cinema.

The night’s supremely awkward attempts at being relevant to the under 25 demo were also typically Gen-X. Having Janelle Monae cold-open as 'Mr Rogers' then pound out a song-and-dance number featuring dancers in outfits from cooler films that weren’t nominated (Midsommar; Us) was a mistake that veered close to Rob Lowe/Snow White tackiness. A rapping-recap at the half way point from one of the young stars of the upcoming urban musical In The Heights left most bewildered.   

One generation’s love for the adventures of Woody and Buzz no doubt bolstered Toy Story 4 in the Best Animated Feature award, with Pixar’s mega-successful franchise entry beating out the more deserving Klaus and I Lost My Body. Also reflecting a more open-minded attitude than we’ve come to expect from the Academy was Taiki Waititi’s Best Adapted Screenplay win for the Nazi-themed satire, Jojo Rabbit. The love for brilliant international filmmaking did not extend to the Best Documentary Feature category, with American Factory beating the heartbreaking masterwork For Sama.

Technical categories skewed towards the industry’s older craftsmen, with 1917 (Visual Effects; Cinematography; Sound Mixing), Ford vs Ferrari (Editing; Sound Editing), Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (Production Design) and Little Women (Costume Design) sharing the below-the-line honours. Steven Spielberg introduced the In Memoriam montage, which included his mentor, Sid Sheinberg. The late Kobe Bryant was the first image, while Hollywood great Kirk Douglas was the last, the long list of those who have left us accompanied by a soulful Billie Eilish singing The Beatles’ Yesterday.